Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Dear Martin by Nic Stone was published in 2017. I've been actively seeking out books written by authors and illustrators of color.  Nic Stone tells an important story about bias and racism in our current day.

I liked this story because of the tie to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I liked that the main character is introspective. I think this would be a good book to teach at the high school level.

Justyce, the main character, attends a mostly white school with his best friend Manny. Justyce is an excellent student who experiences daily micro-aggressions and often blatant racism. The story opens with Justyce being detained and put in handcuffs even though he has not committed a crime. This experience haunts him throughout the story.

One day while driving with Manny, the radio turned way up, they encounter an off-duty cop who in anger shoots at the boys. The media fallout is brutal. This story has mature language. It's an important story where Justyce continually tries to live his life in the manner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. but finds there are no easy answers to What would Martin do?

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo was published in 2018 and is a novel written in verse. This is one of my favorite books that I read this year. Acevedo's writing is beautiful. I listened to the novel and it was brilliantly narrated by the author. In fact as soon as it ended, I began listening to it again - it's that good. 

Xiomara Batista is the main character and she is a poet. She tells her story through poems. Often she shares the feelings of her heart, but in reality, she doesn't share those thoughts with anyone else. Through her story the reader knows what it is like to be sexually harassed, to have a first period, to be a twin, to feel your voice is being silenced, to feel you have a voice, to question religion, to question one's relationship to those they love, and to feel responsible for unwanted attention from men. 

This story is about Xiomara finding her voice in a home and a society who tries to quiet her, and her voice is strong, powerful, and beautiful. One of my favorite poems was "How I Feel about Attention" I'll share the first and last verse of this poem. 

"If Medusa was Dominican 

and had a daughter, I think I'd be her. 

I look and feel like a myth. 

A story distorted, waiting for others to stop

and stare. 

"If I was her kid, Medusa would tell me her secrets:

how it is that her looks stop men

in their tracks            why they still keep on coming. 

How she outmaneuvers them when they do" (48). 

I plan on buying all Acevedo’s other books. 

Angela Jensen donated 13 copies of If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond to our NICU book project. 

We’ve been able to give books to every baby who has been in our NICU this year because of all our generous donors. Thank you. 

 Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett

When We Were Alone written by David A. Robertson and  illustrated by Julie Flett was published in 2016. Robertson tells the story of a child helping her kokom (grandmother) in the garden and asks her questions about why she likes so many colors among other questions. Through these question, the child learns about her kokom's experience of being sent to a residential school with her brother and how restrictive the school was. 

Everything was taken from her and her brother: their long hair, their language, their brightly colored clothing, and their families. She explains how she was able to get through that hard experience and how she appreciates having all of those things in her life now. She explains to her granddaughter how when they were alone, she and her friends and brother would get around the rules. 

This book introduces children to the reality of residential schools. Both the author the illustrator are Native Americans. Julie Flett's illustrations are beautiful as always and portray the emotion of the story. I like the use of Native language in the story and the gentle way Robertson tells the story. I always love a story with a wonderful grandmother because I was blessed with such a good one. 

Teresa Moore donated 20 hardbacks to our NICU book project. I appreciate her support of our project, and hardbacks are always in short supply for us. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! by Elise Parsley

 If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! by Elise Parsley was published in 2016 and is just a cute as her book, If You Ever Want to Bring and Alligator to School, Don't. As I read and laughed at this book I thought of my oldest daughter and her addiction to her piano when she was young girl. I had to make her go play outside because she would stay on the bench and play piano all day otherwise. 

Parsley's illustrations are hilarious. Magnolia pushing her piano to the beach is the best. She says, "But on the way, your arms will get heavy. Then your legs will get draggy. So you'll find the perfect way to move the piano along." 

Her poor piano goes through a lot, and Magnolia is her typical emotional self. 

We've had some new donations to our NICU book project. We were low on hardbacks, but it seems that whatever we need seems to come our way.

Michelle Schwendiman sent these books over. They are so cute and were such a good price that I went and used some of our donated money to purchase a big stack of them. 

Books from our anonymous donor:

These are from Kohl's and ended up costing only $2 each. 

Max the Brave was sent to us from Theo's mom Britney Shaw. This is such a cute story. 

Liam's mom, Miranda Heinz, sent these cute board books.   

I've been so blessed by people who have chosen to give to our project. In our often chaotic world, it helps me see the good and know that we are contributing to literacy, gentleness, and the bond between parent and child. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi was published in 2020. This book was originally published as Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi, and is a remix written by Jason Reynolds for teen readers. I am hoping our school district will add this book to our approved book list because I'd like to use it in my classroom. 

Our school librarian loaned me the school's copy, but I found I needed to annotate - a lot, so I bought my own copy. This book, while not a history book, details the roots of racism in our world and especially in the United States. 

One great thing about this book is it gives just enough information about many topics to make you want to learn more, so it becomes a great catalyst for research. It touches on so many things that are at the roots of systemic racism. This book makes me feel like we can do better and that we must to better. 

Page xvi; "There will come a time when we will love humanity, when we will gain the courage to fight for an equitable society for our beloved humanity, knowing, intelligently, that when we fight for humanity, we are fighting for ourselves." ~Ibram X. Kendi

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

More NICU Donations

 We've received many NICU donations in the last few weeks. I am way behind on getting them posted and thanking you all because I've been getting my classroom ready and school has started. I'm excited to be back in the classroom. I also enjoy the bonus Scholastic points that allow us to get even more books. 

Katey Blakely sent the books in the next several pictures. 

Crystal Loveland sent these. 

I ordered more books from Scholastic with the money donated by an anonymous donor. With the bonus points I was able to get so many books with this money. The next several pictures are the 356 books that we were able to get. 

Also from our anonymous donor.

Even more from our anonymous donor. 

These are from our anonymous donor.

These are from our anonymous donor. 

These are from our anonymous donor. 

Teresa Moore sent these two. 

Valarie sent this batch of books. There are so many good ones in here. 

Thank you all so much for your generous donations. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Everything to Spend the Night by Ann Whitford Paul and Maggie SmithWe

Everything to Spend the Night written by Ann Whitford Paul and illustrated by Maggie Smith is an ABC book published in 1999. I collect ABC books and this one is so cute. This story features a little girl going to spend the night with her grandfather. She's brought a huge travel bag full of treasures. 

She says, "Grandpa! Grandpa!

Come and see

the things I brought

for you and me - 

I packed my bag.

I filled it tight with . . .

Everything to spend the night. 

First with Apples we can share 

with Bunny and my fuzzy Bear. 

The story continues with something to represent each letter of the alphabet. Grandpa is getting tired from all the activities his grand daughter has brought along. This story has a cute ending.

This book is currently out of print but you can find it on line. 

We have received more donations for our NICU book project. I appreciate every single book we get. 

Lori Cash donated this selection to our NICU book project. I love the tiny board books; they are just right for baby hands. 

Debbie Murray sent these books. 

Kate Thompson sent us this selection. 

Thank you all so much for your generous donations. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Perfect by Max Amato

Perfect by Max Amato was published in 2019 and my grand kids think this book is funny.

The story begins with a clean eraser on a clean page. Pencil joins the story and starts drawing on the page, and Eraser is able to wipe out all the marks. 

The story progresses with more and more writing on the page and Eraser struggling to keep the page clean until finally. Eraser can't keep up, and the page is all in pencil. 

Eraser discovers that he can draw pictures by erasing. I liked the humor of the illustrations. 

This is a fun story that would be great to use as a lead up to an art lesson or one on working together. 

Nancy Frandsen sent 25 books for our NICU book project. Sandra Boynton books are so much fun.  Thank you so much, Nancy. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas' debut novel, was published in 2017, and although I'd heard many good things about this book, I'd put off reading it. This book is a Coretta Scott King and a Michael L Printz Honor book.

The Hate U Give is incredibly well written. Starr Carter, the main character, witnesses the fatal shooting of one of her friends at the hands of a police officer, and the subsequent criminalizing of her friend is terrible. They call him a Thug - thus the title.

Starr lives in a poor black neighborhood, but she attends a suburban prep school. She feels pulled by both sides, and her attempts to keep her worlds from colliding don't work out they way she hopes.

This story shows the aftermath of this shooting. Thomas puts the reader right in the situation. I felt anger, I cried, and I worried about the characters.

Thomas writes about race relations in a way that is easy to relate to. She talks about poverty, about colorism, police brutality, police fear of those of color, criminalizing the victim, and bigotry.

I thought this book would be more polarizing, but it is a well written story that builds bridges. There are so many talking points. I would love to teach this book in the classroom. Kudos to Angie Thomas.

James and Wyatt Frandsen from CJF sent books for our NICU book project. Thank you both so very much. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin  written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet was published in 2013. I had never heard of Horace Pippin. Horace was born in 1888 on February 22. His grandmother had been a slave and he had large capable hands just like she did.

Horace was a hard worker and he loved to draw and paint. He spent his early years creating pictures for those he cared about. He was often asked to "Make a picture for us, Horace."

He used natural colors, but he liked to add a splash of red to his paintings.

Sweet's illustrations fill the page with quotes by Horace and images of things from his time. Sweet made art that matches his style of art.

As a young man, he served in WWI, and he was shot in the right shoulder and it weakened his arm and hand so that he could no longer draw or paint. After some time, he regains some strength in his right hand, and he uses his left hand to brace and hold his right arm and hand up so he can continue to create art. Pippin is an example of working hard for what he loved.

I went online after reading this picture book and looked at Horace Pippin's artwork. He said, "Pictures just come to my mind and I tell my heart to go ahead; and The war brought out all the art in me."

During WWI, he journaled and drew pictures in a notebook. Here are some of those pages.

Here are some of his paintings.

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin is a Robert F Sibert Honor book.

We've had a few more donations to our NICU book project this week.

My sweet momma, Rolean Peterson sent this collection.

Aaron Reeder sent this fun selection.

Seth Dickson sent these cute books.

My cousin, Ben Grow sent me a big box of books. Some of these will go to local little free libraries, but many of them will head to the NICU babies. 

I appreciate each book that is donated to our project. Thank you all so very much. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander was published in 2014 and is written in verse. The verses in the book are visually appealing because of form and font usage. This would be a great book for any reader who needs a fast paced story with a lot of white space. 

Josh and Jordan Bell are sons of a retired basketball star, and their father has worked hard to teach them all he knows. Both boys are amazing players, but things start to change when Jordan falls in love, and when their dad starts having health problems. 

The book is broken into sections just like a basketball game, from warm-up to over-time.

Page 20:
Basketball Rule #1

In this game of life
your family is the court
and the ball is your heart.
No matter how good you are,
no matter how down you get,
always leave
your heart
on the court.

This book deals with race relations, sibling relationships, parent relationships, and friendships. I enjoyed the sections that deal with hair issues. I liked how realistic the relationships and the characters felt. This won the Newbery award and is a Michael I Printz Honor book.

Several more donations to our NICU book project have come in.

Janelle Topik donated these books.

Naomi Peterson sent this selection.

Miranda Heinz sent these books to honor her son, Liam.

Family members of one of our NICU staff sent this selection.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has sent books for the babies. We appreciate your support of this project.

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you.